I will be teaching a book arts seminar, BOOK ICELAND, at the Gullkistan
Center for Creativity in Iceland, June 18 - 29, 2018. If interested in
exploring the book form and learning about Iceland—its book culture
and history, weather & diverse landscapes, check out this seminar at
http://www.gullkistan.is/book-iceland/ or click the brochure above.
Artist Books: Tiers Asunder
Tiers Asunder_1 - 5, 2017. Artist Books: intaglio & letterpress prints on acid
stained kitikata paper, book board & cloth, cave paper and miscellaneous
papers bound in drum leaf book structure.
Tiers Asunder was inspired by a photograph that I found rummaging through family heirloom photo albums―an image of an aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, on which my grandfather was one of its captains during WWII. During his term, a Kami Kazi pilot (whose childhood nickname was Eyeballs) bombed the carrier. The pilot died with 13 others that day. The photo documents the hole in the carrier's deck from the explosion with the crew standing by. The image held me as I reflected on the space created by the destructive act—an opening for exploration and a suggestion on how to proceed with the work. My intent was not to make an artist book about this narrative but to use elements of it to create an experience.
Process is content. To speak to the destructive act, I intentionally dirtied the papers for the book pages using a process I coined "negative conservation". I recalled once watching a paper conservator remove acid stains from artwork―a washing process that left acid tide lines on the support material. I saw the byproduct of the practice as a way to stain the kitikata papers for this book.
addendum:
While binding book #3, glue seeped through and soiled the end sheets. Unexpected, unintended, what I now refer to as an ath'wart, and a pause, I asked, "How does this mark contribute to the whole?" I thank judi goldberg for use of her words*—and response to my question.
*all ways know―
ing the right of it some
times spoils the
view
Art is a Living Thing
West Marin Review, Volume 7
My work is in the West Marin Review, volume 7, an award winning publication that took first place in Literary Journals/Periodicals in the 2015 New York Book Show. Please join us to celebrate its publication on Sunday, October 30th, 3 -5 pm at Point Reyes Community Presbyterian Church. It can be purchased online at www.westmarinreview.org or at Pt. Reyes Books.
"When a Book Becomes An Artist Book"
I will be presenting this talk at the Iota Printshop
on Saturday, Sept 24th from 3pm to 5pm.
Details below:
http://northbayletterpressarts.org/event/brooke-holve-talk/
from Cuts Make You. made with tyvek
cuts make you. burns too.
At the residency, I continued to work with tyvek, a high density synthetic
developed by DuPont in 1955—a 'barrier' material which covers, protects,
resists & stands up to elements, penetrated only through cutting. Inspired
by volcanoes of the Icelandic landscape, I shifted to another process—burning
and discovered that fire doesn't penetrate tyvek; it melts and shapes it.
[video width="202" height="360" m4v="http://www.brookeholve.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/cuts-make-you.-burns-too-Wi-Fi.m4v"][/video]
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Gullkistan and the Residents
Four years later
returning back to Gullkistan in Laugarvatn,
a new location and accommodations
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Eight residents this time: some here longer than others
with the stay group of four:
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I have savored my time here.
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skinningtexts
Back to Iceland:
Several years ago on my last trip to IcelandI purchased several kinds of tanned
fish skins including lax (salmon), wolfskin and cod. In New Zealand I purchased
possum skins — all covering materials for my constructions. But as things happen,
these materials took me to a deeper place; they became more than visual textures
from a country. I researched and also found language and stories about the skins.
The fish skins still hang on a line in my studio waiting for a place in my work, serving
as a memory of Iceland and now an inspiration for making my own skins here at the
residency with art materials —fluid acrylics. A few samples are displayed below.
While making them, I started gathering Icelandic & English idioms aboutskins and
in the process found a way to learn about the Icelandic people. Language has
become a skin that captures the character, history and cultural practices of a people.
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About the Fish Skins:
I purchased the fish skins at the factory inSandarkrokur that processes up to
200,000 fish skins per year. Once tanned, the skins fromsalmon, wolffish, cod
and perch become strong, durable, thin and pliable — a flexible material to
work with.
Fish skins were used in Iceland for centuries, mainly by those who couldn’t
afford lamb leather. The untanned skin was considered poorer quality because
it was brittle and disintegrated easily. People would measure distance over a
mountain by counting how many pairs of fish skin shoes you would wear walking
over it.
Modern tanning techniques take advantage of fish skin’s unique microscopic
crosshatched pattern. When tanned, it’s stronger than most skin you can get, 10
times stronger than lamb leather of the same thickness.
Icelandic Fish/Skin Idioms: (literal translation and meaning)
pikkur á honum skrápurinn - tough skin; one can endure much
tröfaldur i rođinu - double in your skin; a shady character, two-faced
In English, we might say, "to talk out of both sides of your mouth"
which means you say one thing and mean another and implies
what you say is untruthful and contradictory.
rúginn ađ skinni - only the skin left; money or something lost
In English, we might say "only the shirt on one's back"
vera i ham - to be in a skin; energetically working with a focus
húđlafur - skin lazy; slept in bed all of the time in cow skins
skinniđ mitt - my skin; term of endearment to a child, my little darling
eigi einhamr - not of one skin, or shape
Ađ fara hamförum - to move from one shape to another, to
shape-shift, meaning to go beserk
Researching Icelandic idioms made me think of our own
expressions using skin as an image.
A few below:
skin deep
by the skin of your teeth no skin in the game get the skinny
skinflint
more than one way to skin a cat skinny dipping
skinny shiv
And then there are other kinds of skins, this one from a resident here at Gullkistan.
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And and
more skins in Reykjavik:
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out to dry
As it turns, US hair dryers do not fair well here in Iceland (even with transformers).
To the Westfjords
An unexpected and wonderful trip with Aegir and Linda to the Westfjords,
a rugged, desolate & remote, sparsely populated region of Iceland where
fewer tourists venture. Some highlights below:
Westfjords; our itinerary
Linda on ferry
western most point in Europe
Latrabjarg Cliffs
Raudasandur Beach
Black church
driftwood
Kleifakallinn - varda like sculpture who guards travelers
vardans
varda 2
hermit's view
cod heads for the fish soup market in Nigeria
seal by ocean's edge
camper by glacier
westfjords view